Husband, in-laws get life term for hammering woman, child to death

A sessions court here on Tuesday sentenced a man and four other of his family to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and their one-year-old daughter in 2009.

Manisha and her one-year-old daughter, Divanshi, were found dead on June 5, 2009 at their house in Rupnagar. Those convicted are Manisha's husband Lalit, his brother Vikas, their parents Bimal Kumar and Brij Bala, and Vikas's wife Kavita, all residents of Rupnagar.

Manisha's father Vinod Kumar had alleged that Vikas and Kavita had a three-year-old daughter, Riya, who went missing in April 2009, and the family had been torturing Manisha since then, holding her responsible for Riya's disappearance. On June 5, 2009, they killed Manisha and her daughter by smashing their heads with a hammer. The case was registered under sections 302 (murder), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Judge Amarjot Bhatti had completed the trial and convicted the five accused on Monday. On Tuesday, the judge announced the life sentence and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each on the convicts.